I came back for you
by Junyi the Shadow
Summary: Did you ever wonder what happened to the hero's companions between the battle at the imperial palace and Dirge? This story fills in the gap! OP Radiant Jen Zi x OP Sky. Chapter 2 is now up, I'm working on chapter 3... more chapters to come, please review!
1. Chapter 1

_I was always interested in what happened in between our heroines' death at the Imperial Palace and her awakening at the monastery at Dirge – not to her, for what she faced we do know, but to her companions. All we get to know is that all of them ended up together near Tiens Landing where Dawn Star began to have visions about our heroine. What happened to the companions is all the more interesting because I always asked myself how they managed to escape - as the last thing we know is that all of them were unconscious and in no state to fight for their lives (naturally, I'm particularly interested in Sky, having romanced him… ). So, here's my fill in to the gap between the Imperial Palace and the appearance at the Dirge. After taking the first few steps I realised I would have to split tue Story in chapters. I have played as Radiant Jen-Zi (OP), but named her Junyi the Dark. Tell me how you like it! (Please don't be too tough on me concerning the language – English is not my native language.)_

_And please note that I don't own Jade Empire or any of the characters featured within this fic (with the exception of the Prince of Horse Demons, an invention I made - based upon the Balrog at The Lord of the Rings), they belong to Bioware._

_More chapters to come!_

Slowly, he regained his senses. His whole body seemed to be on fire with pain, but most of all, his head felt like it had exploded. Nevertheless, he forced himself to open his eyes, as, all of a sudden, reality snapped into focus again: Junyi! Sky tensed and made a valiant effort to get his body to move, in which he succeeded, bringing himself to a kneeling position. He looked around him. Silk Fox and Dawn Star were still unconscious, but apart from that seemed to be ok. Junyi – the thought made him sick. Where was she? Coming groggily up to his feet, he could make out distant noises, a voice. The rogue dragged himself towards the voice, and Junyi came into his sight, standing before the throne of the Empire, and an old man – obviously her master Li – talked to her. "Very well, my student. I'm happy to see how you've developed – and that you didn't abandon the basics I taught you. Even - the mistakes." Following these words, Sky saw him throw something shiny into the air. By instinct, Junyi looked up, and with a flowing movement, much too quick to see, Li advanced her and hit her hard right into the life-ensuring spots of her body. Sky's mouth opened for a silent cry as he saw the slender form of Junyi give way and crumple before her old master.

It cannot be. She can't be dead.

'Stand up, Junyi, I beg you, please, stand up…' he murmured, although his heart knew what his mind would not allow: Junyi the Dark was dead. As dead as his beloved daughter, Pinmei. Twice in his life, he had failed in protecting those he loved – it was almost too much to bear… Time seemed to slow down, each breath he was taking a torture.

A gentle hand touched him, and Sky looked up to see Dawn Star standing right behind him, with a shocked look upon her face. He saw her mouth form words 'We have to get out, she would have wanted us to escape from here', but they seemed to have lost all meaning to him. All he could think of was that he had wasted the only chance to tell Junyi, this amazing woman, about his true feelings, that he had come to love her when he thought he could never love again in his entire life. And now she was dead, and she would never know… Silk Fox appeared and punched him in the side: "Get moving, Sky, or we'll all be dead because of you!" This worked, and he caught himself running from the large hall, with a last glance to what had been his love. Junyi, I love you, he thought. Forgive me for being the fool that I am. Behind them, more lotus assassins moved in for the kill.

The way out of the palace was hell. They met The Black Whirlwind, Henpecked Hou and Wildflower on the way, and Sky found himself caught in a nightmare of black hands, swords, fire and blood. He moved mechanically, his instincts and years of training and fighting ensuring that he stayed alive instead of his enemies. The others fought by his side, similarly desperate, but nevertheless as deadly as ever. Dawn Stars' sword seemed to become a life of his own, Silk Foxes kicks and thrusts were lighter and more focussed than ever, and he swayed and cleaved men in two without thinking or feeling anything. They almost made it to the entrance where Kang waited for them. Almost.

They had just cleared a stairway of lotus assassins and advanced the door at the top, when they heard a crashing and splintering noise behind them. Chai Ka was the first to see what made its way through the bottom of the hall up to them – its prey. Wildflowers eyes flashed as the Guardian bellowed: "Keep running! It's a Prince of the Horse Demons, a Giant and master of the flame! We don't stand a chance against him! RUN!!!" Sky, however, turned his head as in a daze to see what Chai Ka meant – and his heart nearly skipped a beat when he saw the thing slowly emerge from the ground. It was around 10 times the size of a normal Horse Demon, with fiery eyes that showed no emotion beyond utter hatred. He remembered that Junyi did know how to turn into a Horse Demon as a fighting style, but had refused to ever use it. "I won't change into something that incorporates hatred and pain. I fight against this, and I will not use it, not even against my enemies." Zu would have stated that this way of thinking and acting is not very effective, as she won't get a similar treatment from her foes, but Sky had known what she meant. She won't desecrate her goal by using all means, she needed to stay true to herself and to her principles, otherwise she'll fall, and, in the end, fail. She had looked so beautiful at this moment, so convinced and emanating from an inner glow that seemed to hover around her like a butterfly on the first flower in spring. Her face, framed by some strays of her black hair, had been serene and her jaw set straight, and a little blow of wind had rustled through her hair and made her clothes flutter around her. In fact, she had reminded the rogue strongly of an angel, sent from the Heavens to set things right… And with that, the thought of her death returned with full force and nearly drove him to his knees. This time, it was Chai Ka that caught him by the arm and dragged him forward. "What are you doing? Run!" But it was too late. Sky saw the others ahead of them – Dawn Star and Henpecked Hou running side by side, Silk Fox and The Black Whirlwind were already through the door and on their way to the next one behind which Kang was waiting with their plane… But then, a searing pain to his back made him cry out and collapse. Chai Ka turned and saw that the Prince had wounded Sky with a flaming whip. These whips were powerful and unholy weapons, and the wounds they inflicted must be treated almost immediately, otherwise their prey will suffer a slow and painful death. Summoning some of his heavenly powers, the Guardian picked the unconscious rogue off the ground and sent him flying through the door, where The Black Whirlwind caught him. To ensure this, Chai Ka had to waste another bit of his energy. Then he let the door slam shut and turned to face the Prince of the Horse Demons. Unfair odds.

The remaining companions sped on and made it to the hall where Kang was waiting with their last means to escape. "Come on –why did that take so long? We have to get out of here, there were already some lotus assassins trying to damage my beautiful work, but my explosives have stopped them – and where is Junyi?" Kang stopped in midsentence and scanned the bruised and battled group standing before the Dragonfly. "She is not… She cannot…" Once in his life, Kang the mad scientist was at a loss for words, but Silk Fox cut him off. "Kang, we do have to escape from here – NOW!" – and with that, she pushed forward, but Dawn Star stopped her. "Sun Lian, wait a moment. What about Wildflower? We can't abandon her!" – Sun Lian turned her head and replied sharply: "From what I saw the Guardian can't beat this Prince of the Horse Demons. So I guess he sacrificed himself in order to give us the time to escape, and even though I don't understand this way of action I won't let his sacrifice be in vain by wasting time here. We HAVE to move on, Dawn Star." Dawn Star looked hurt, but said nothing, climbing into the Dragonfly like the others. Sky was dragged inside by The Black Whirlwind, still unconscious. It was then that the door exploded, and Wildflowers body was hurled with incredible force towards the Dragonfly. Without hesitation, Dawn Star jumped out and cradled her in her arms, handing her over to Henpecked Hou and jumping back into the plane. "Kang, get us out of here", Sun Lian cried whereas the Horse Demon Prince, looking a bit battered, came forward. Kang hit a button and a cloud of black smoke clouded the room, and when it faded, the Dragonfly was gone.

Somehow, they made it to the Forest Shadow's wood, though how, nobody of them could tell afterwards. Dawn Star tended to Wildflower and Sky as well as she could during the flight, but it soon became clear that the rogue was beyond her help. The wound that the whip had inflicted upon his body seemed to be poisoned, and he remained unconscious, his breath ragging in his throat. Wildflower, on the other side, had taken some injured ribs, but luckily enough, nothing serious. Chai Ka was weak, but with the assistance of Dawn Star, could be helped enough to heal himself and Wildflower with time. After a while, he was able to tell them that he had kept the Prince busy and at a distance by summoning the power of the Ice Shard, one of the few that was at least a little bit useful against his foe, which had the fire at his disposal.

At their arrival, they met one of the hunters of Prince Yun, who provided them with everything they needed. The Black Whirlwind lifted Sky out of the Dragonfly and gently laid him down on the soft grass by the riverside. Slowly, Wildflower approached him, and her eyes flashed blue, as the Guardian began inspecting the body of their companion. "It is how I feared. The wound is beyond our reach to tend to. It was a powerful and unholy weapon that inflicted it, and now all that could save this man is his own will. We cannot help him stand through this trial which he'll have to win with his soul, but we can tend to his body. Let's hope that he is strong enough." But as Chai Ka turned around to face them, all of them knew that the odds for Sky weren't the best ones. Indeed, the Guardian knew of only 2 persons who had fought and won through the last 1000 years (one of them had been a spirit monk), but he didn't tell his comrades. The situation was bad enough as it was…


	2. Chapter 2

Sky opened his eyes and found himself floating above snow-covered mountains. A full moon was making the snow glowing brightly, and he could make out a large building on one of the mountains. It looked like a monastery, and somehow he knew that Junyi was there. He didn't know nor care where the knowledge came from, but his heart told him that his love was down there, and that he could prove himself and help her this time. He tried to lower himself down, but found the way blocked by a fiery essence - and suddenly he remembered the pain and the Prince of the Horse Demons and his whip. It blocked his path to Junyi! Moreover, he suddenly realised that he was no longer a corporeal being, but neither a ghost. Indeed, he seemed to be something like a shadow, and he knew that he was caught between life and death, clearly balanced between these two states. But Sky had not been Sky if he couldn't come up with a plan, even in such a moment as this one. He knew that he could not possibly win against the demon, even if it wasn't the demon in his full form, he was far too powerful. But despite his size, the villain was slow, in fact much slower than the rogue, who had learned to move more than swift, if necessary. So speed would have to be his ally.

After a few tries, Sky learned that he only needed to will himself in a certain direction to get there, all the way being fully aware that his foe wasn't going to wait long before attacking him. So he needed to set his plan into work. He dived to the right, not too far away, as he was afraid he would loose sight of the monastery, but far enough to make the demonic essence follow him. Then he summoned some of his focus and his chi in order to be able to get to his enemy and deliver him a few blows without being caught himself, in which he succeeded. The part of the demon that had followed him to this realm seemed to be taken completely by surprise by his sudden attack (or rather: by the folly of it). But before it could react, Sky was too far away and out of his reach. Angrily, the being rushed forward, but the rogue easily avoided it, focussing all the way on keeping out of harms way and distracting the thing as much as possible. Like in a deadly dance, he circled his foe, leaping out of the way whenever it threatened to engulf him with its flames (these being also incorporeal, but nevertheless Sky wouldn't chance his luck). After a while, the demon grew restless and his attacks increased in ferocity. Still he found that he couldn't catch his prey, which made him even more mad. Now it was time for the prey to act, for the demon hadn't been aware of where they were fighting, and Sky had managed to get them near one of the snow-covered mountain tops. As the demon lashed out again, the rogue dove and got himself out of the demon's sight by crouching behind some large boulders. The moment of surprise was all he needed. As his foe still pondered where the little piece of meat had disappeared, tue scoundrel rounded the mountain top well out of sight and sped full force back to the monastery. By the time the demon noticed that he had been fooled, Sky was halfway back and far out of reach. A roar of frustration followed him as he made his way down to the large stone building.

As he searched for an entrance, he noted that he could easily land on one of the many open places at Dirge. He then noticed that the whole place was devastated - some of the buildings were destroyed and stones and debris blocked some paths entirely. Clearly, a large battle had been fought here. All of a sudden, as he saw the ghost of an imperial soldier rushing by, met by another man in a plain blue dress, something in Sky's head clicked in place: This had to be Dirge! The place where emperor Sun Hai stole the power of the Water Dragon and where Junyi's people were slaughtered! Somehow, all came back to Junyi and her fate… The thought made him smile beyond the difficult situation he was now in. The ghosts - for there were many more, fighting, screaming and dying over and over again all over the place - didn't take notice of him, and for the moment, he seemed to be safe, but this didn't have to mean it would stay this way. He meditated for a moment, trying to get a feeling for the place and for the surroundings - where could Junyi be? Carefully, he advanced and followed a stairway that spiralled upwards, past a large well where clear water emerged from the mouth of the gracefully carved figure of a dragon. The whole place seemed like an oasis of peace in the middle of the ghostly battle, and Sky knew this aura - the last spirit monk had been here. A tender smile crossed his face. 'I won't let you down again, Junyi' he vowed silently to himself. Hesitantly, he left the well and followed the stairs. They led to a large, double-winged portal, in front of which the ghost battle raged ferociously. It stood open, but he couldn't make out anything behind it. Frowning, he stopped and gazed intently at the portal as though he could penetrate the darkness behind the doors with his gaze. Once again, he knew that she had been here, and that she had moved through the portal. But why couldn't he see what was on the other side? Sky pushed these thoughts aside - Junyi needed him, he knew it. He could feel her love for him, like a warm fire inside. Although she stood strong through all the trials they had encountered, the rogue knew that, deep inside, she was fragile and wounded. Apart from the joking and the light flirtation, her kind words to everyone in their party, he sensed that there was a place inside her that she kept securely closed. That was where she kept her fears, her nightmares, the wounds she had suffered so far. He had longed to ease her burden, but could not tell her - until it was too late.. Sky closed his eyes and advanced the portal resolutely, until an unseen force blocked the path. He couldn't get through the portal! Frustrated, he tried other ways, but none worked. Despair threatened to overwhelm him - he was so close to her, but couldn't reach her! Beaten, he sat down and laid his head on his knees. How could he fail again… when suddenly, he felt a light touch on his hand. Startled, he looked up. There was no one to be seen, but he seemed to feel a familiar presence, like the soft scent of the first flowers in spring, and somehow, it inspired him with new strength and confidence. Pushing anger and frustration aside, tue rogue stood up - he would make it through the portal, he knew, now that the presence was there. Purposefully, he strode forward, and encountered no resistance - he could pass the portal and proceed into the area behind…


End file.
